From Auto Plants to the Brothel: How Big Labor is Targeting Niche Industries to Replace Shrinking Dues

If you want to understand the state of the American labor movement in 2026, look at who they represent today.

You’d expect the Communications Workers of America (CWA) to represent men and women laying fiber-optic cable or installing telecom lines. But lately, you are just as likely to find CWA organizers in a comic book shop, a tech startup, or a Nevada brothel.

Yes, a brothel. Earlier this year, the CWA officially filed a petition with the NLRB to unionize the sex workers at Sheri’s Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada, under a newly minted "United Brothel Workers" banner.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Just this month, the CWA secured a first contract for 1,900 video game developers at Microsoft-owned Blizzard, makers of World of Warcraft. This summer, they unionized the editors and staff at Dark Horse Comics, citing concerns about AI and return-to-office mandates. Over at Wikipedia, the CWA successfully organized hundreds of remote software engineers and staff.

What do comic book editors, remote software developers, and Nevada sex workers have in common? Very little with traditional blue-collar workers. But they have exactly what Big Labor is desperate for… dues.

For decades, the foundation of the American labor movement was the blue-collar working class. But as CPAW has highlighted, rank-and-file workers in traditional industries are increasingly shifting away from the progressive politics of union leadership. In 2024, union households shifted toward conservative candidates in record numbers.

Faced with a shrinking traditional base that no longer aligns with their far-left political agenda, union leadership didn't change their agenda to match their members. Instead, they went shopping for new members to match their agenda.

It is a desperate business model designed to replace the blue-collar workers who are leaving them with a patchwork of niche, progressive, and white-collar workers who will willingly fund their political machine. As we reported recently, the four largest public-sector unions spent nearly $650 million of member dues on progressive politics in a single cycle. To keep that massive slush fund flowing, unions must find new members. If tradesmen and factory workers won't foot the bill anymore, video game developers and brothel workers will have to do.

This bizarre rebranding of Big Labor was entirely enabled by the Biden-era National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

The Biden NLRB weaponized federal labor law to facilitate this exact type of niche organizing. By allowing unions to carve out hyper-specific "micro-units," green-lighting card-check gimmicks through the Cemex decision, and allowing unions to trap workers in unwanted representation using the blocking charge loophole, the NLRB made it incredibly easy for unions to scoop up progressive enclaves while ignoring the broader workforce.

The result is a labor movement that looks less and less like the American working class, and more and more like the staff directory of a progressive non-profit.

American workers deserve better. As the new NLRB settles in, the agency has a mandate to clean up this mess and return unions to doing what they were meant to: fighting for the livelihoods of everyday American workers.

It is time for the Board to scrap the Cemex standard, close the blocking charge loophole, and restore the sanctity of the secret-ballot election. If unions want to rebuild their ranks, they should do it  by proving their value to actual workers, negotiating strong contracts, and earning their dues on the shop floor. Not by using NLRB loopholes to draft comic book editors and sex workers into funding their political machine.